Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Guest Post: Why I Chose To Homeschool My Son Who Has Autism

Why I chose to homeschool my son who has autism

Autism....the one word I dreaded most. I can't
explain it really, how I knew before he was even born. I picked up a magazine
one day when I was around 20 weeks pregnant, and in it was an article on
autism. I didn't know much about the disorder, but it was as if God sent this
article directly to me. From that point on I had this nagging feeling that
something just wasn't right. My son was born 5 weeks early, and every delay was
blamed on his early arrival. But again, I knew something just wasn't right. He wasn't
progressing and developing with his peers at all. Finally, when he was 13
months old, we changed pediatricians and I made the call to our local Early
Intervention organization to have him tested. A year later, after countless
hours of therapy, my greatest fear was confirmed by a smiling doctor who
informed me that my child was autistic. I admit it. I mourned. I mourned all
the dreams and all the hopes and wishes for the future that I thought were
lost. I mourned. I grieved. Then I went to work. I wasn't going to accept this
diagnosis as an end all. I wasn't going to accept that he would never speak or
show varied emotions. I wasn't going to accept any of it! That is when I made
the decision to homeschool, but at the time I didn't realize it.

You see, I had been in college - Pre-med no
less -and dropped out in order to provide one on one therapy and instruction to
him for as many hours per day as we could. He started to show progress, and
lots of it! I enrolled him in a public special needs pre-school program, and
while he made progress it just wasn't on the same level as it was when I was
doing one on one instruction with him. Two years later it was time to enroll
him in Kindergarten. I had purchased a piece of land near the best school in
our area of the state just so he could attend this school. It was new,
innovative, and great....it was a total let down. He had a cousin who had been
a student at this school, and he also has autism. Sadly, at his first IEP
meeting I discovered that his cousin was apparently the first student they had encountered with autism, and as a result they had based their entire action plan
on him. Now, if you know one child with autism....you know ONE child with
autism. What triggers one child may be a comfort to another. You would think
since I am his mother, and I had spent the last 5 years working with him, I
would be seen as the foremost expert on my own child. This was not the case.
They simply could not accept the fact that my child did not line up crayons, or
shriek when a bell rang, or refuse to adapt to change. Well....that wasn't my
child! Those traits may describe his cousin, but they did not describe him.
They also could not accept the fact that my child was a runner, he was not a
complacent individual content to blindly follow commands. He would go outside,
and he would run. He would wander the school building. He would get lost, or
worse. I requested the ability to walk him to class, and then pick him up from
the class. This was denied. I requested special needs bussing so that when the
sitter, who doesn't drive, was with him he would have a way home-this, too was
denied. Thus our homeschooling adventure began. Over the years I've discovered
quite a few "perks" to homeschooling that for us, make homeschooling
the perfect option for children with autism. Here, I'll list 7.

1.) Tailored Education

My son is now a "5th grader." Whatever THAT means! Autism is a
spectrum disorder, meaning it has a wide variation of signs/symptoms, and
severities. For us, that also means there is a wide variety of academic levels.
We may be doing a 3rd grade program on written communication and a college
level science course.

2.) One on One Instruction

Time and time again, studies have shown students
perform better with a smaller student/teacher ratio. You can't get any better
than 1:1! I'm there to assist him, witness his weaknesses and build upon his
strengths.

3.) REAL Socialization

Oh I can't tell you the number of times I hear,
"But what about socialization, it's so important in autism therapy."Yes, yes it is. But real world socialization
is not found in a classroom sitting behind a desk. It isn't on the playground
as a young child trying to decipher misunderstood social ques that are foreign
to him. Real socialization comes from experiencing the world. He learns how to
conduct himself at a bank meeting, how to interact with people at the grocery
store, how to order his own meal in a restaurant, how to handle himself during
a business meeting. He knows how to adjust to a college classroom. These are
all the opportunity afforded us thanks to homeschooling. I am able to teach him
real world scenarios as they happen, instead of reading them to him in the form
of a social story.

4.) The need for breaks

Sometimes things just get overwhelming and you
need a break. Homeschooling allows you to incorporate your own sensory diet if
needed, or as many breaks as needed.

5.) Hands on Learning

Field trips, science experiments...need I say
more? My son learns best by DOING. He can do so much more being homeschooled!

6.) Sleep

Sleep is a big thing with our flavor of Autism.
There are times he doesn't sleep at all. There is no way he could function to
his full potential in a school setting like that. But at home, I can tone the
day down a bit, let him sleep in a little longer, and still accomplish what we
need to do.

7.) Distractions/Triggers

Being homeschooled allows me to control his
environment during our school work hours to help minimize distractions and
behavior triggers, allowing him to learn more effectively.

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Welcome! I'm Lisa, owner of this blog. I've been married to my best friend John for over 18 years and together we raise our 4 boys. We are a homeschooling family of faith and enjoy spending time together.

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